Water or Soda?!

We have all heard "soft drinks are bad for you" or "you should quit drinking soda if you want to lose weight" but for the most part not too many of us know exactly why consuming it is so bad for us and how it will improve our health to remove it from our diet completely. 

Reducing your overall intake of sugar is one of the easiest ways to improve your overall health.  But, that doesn't mean it is going to be an easy step for many people.  If your especially fond of sugary foods or sodas then it can prove very difficult to "break the bad habit!" 

Facts prove that Americans consume about 49 billion liters of soft drinks per year - that's about 57 gallons per person.  It's all too easy to give into the temptation of drinking soft drinks because they are everywhere - drive-thru's, restaurants, supermarkets, schools and vending machines.

Soda is one of the worst drinks that you can consume. It takes only an hour for your body to feel the harmful effects of drinking a Coke or Pepsi.  Within 10 minutes, 10 teaspoons of sugar - in the form of high fructose corn syrup - hit your bloodstream.  This is already 100% of your recommended daily intake.  The sugar overload doesn't make you vomit because soda contains phosphoric acid, which cuts the flavor.

Within 20 minutes, you blood sugar spikes.  Your liver reacts to the resulting insulin burst by converting massive amounts of sugar into fat.  In another 20 minutes, your body finishes absorbing caffeine.  Your pupils dilate, your blood pressure increases and your liver pumps more sugar into your bloodstream.

In about 45 minutes, your body increases dopamine production, which stimulates the pleasure center of your brain - similar to the effect of heroin.  But then after 60 minutes, you start to crash.

This is what happens within an hour!  Regular consumption of soda may lead to more serious health concerns. Here are 12 good reasons to stop drinking soda and stop giving it to your kids... TODAY!

1. Cancer - Studies show a strong link between the growing number of soda drinkers and the accelerated rate of throat cancer. Soda is also loaded with sugar which feeds cancer.
2. Diabetes - Soda impairs your body's ability to process sugar, increasing your risk of diabetes by 85%.
3. Digestive issues - Drinking soda, especially on an empty stomach, can upset the fragile acid-alkaline balance of your digestive system.  This can lead to inflammation of your stomach and lining and cause distress.
4. DNA damage - Sodium benzoate, a common preservative found in many soft drinks, can switch off parts of DNA, which could lead to Parkinson's disease.
5. Heartburn and acid reflux - Carbonated beverages are very acidic and deliver a lot of air in the form of carbon dioxide which is associated with reflux.
6. Heart disease - Research shows that drinking more than one soft drink per day may increase your risk of developing metabolic syndrome - a group of symptoms including central obesity, elevated blood pressure, fasting blood sugar, fasting triglycerides and love levels of high-density lipoprotein.  You increase your risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes when you have three or more of these symptoms.
7. High blood pressure - Both regular and diet soda can cause an increase in blood pressure. 
8. Kidney problems - Soda contains high amounts of phosphoric acid which is shown to cause kidney stones.
9. Liver damage - Drinking too much soda increases your risk of liver cirrhosis.  Drinking two or more sodas per day may double your risk of chronic liver disease.
10. Obesity - No question about it: soda is a contributor to obesity.  If you drink a 12 ounce can of soda per day you will gain a pound of extra weight per month. 
11. Osteoporosis and weak bones - Phosphoric acid may also lower calcium levels and increase phosphate levels in the blood.  When phosphate levels are high and calcium levels are low, your bones are depleted of calcium.  High soda consumption can also impair the calcification of growing bones in children.
12. Tooth decay - Soda destroys your tooth enamel.  The acidity level of soda is more harmful to your teeth than candy.

The information that I have listed is fact from research done by doctors and scientists.  I am neither but I can tell you that since I have cut soda from my diet I have noticed a huge difference!  I used to drink Diet Coke all day, every day.  I still have one or two every once in a blue moon but my drink of choice these days is ice cold water. 

I used to experience urinary tract infections, bladder infections, cravings for soda when I didn't have one in my hand (seriously, within a half hour of finishing one), severe headaches that I now believe to have been caused by dehydration, difficulty concentrating and I often felt tired and sluggish.  I have not experienced these issues since cutting the soda out of my diet.  Yes on a very rare occasion I will have a headache but not like I used to experience. 

If you do a side by side comparison of the negative effect that soda has on your body and your health vs the positive effects that water and being hydrated has on your body and your health, your choice will be crystal clear!!!